Re: Charge stored in Dielectric? Not really - MISCONCEPTION

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: Ed Phillips <evp-at-pacbell-dot-net> 

"
But wait he said one of the experiments was to do exactly as the classic
one but at say 500 volts.  If the energy is truly stored in the
dielectric it should work for any voltage level.

At 500 volts the corona affect he describes should be minimized.  When
this is done at 500 volts there is no charge left after reassembling.

Forget about the oil and trying to prevent that corona from leaking onto
the dielectric.  Why wouldn't it work at 500 volts if the charge was on
the dielectric?

Luke Galyan
Bluu-at-cox-dot-net"

	If you perform the experiment CAREFULLY there will indeed be charge
stored; of course, at the lower voltage the charge will be
proportionally less.

	An anecdote.  I have a small Van de Graaf generator which will put out
6" sparks.  I also have a sack of very old brown-colored polystyrene
cups.  In fooling around one day I discovered that if I put my fist
inside one and let the discharge from the HV terminal strike the outisde
I ended up with enough charge stored that I got a potent and slightly
painful jolt when I took the cut away from the generator and touched the
outside with my other hand. Certainly charge stored somewhere.  If the
weather was/is dry, I could pick up a "charged" cup a couple of days
later and still get a jolt!

Ed